Reports: Barcelona To Make Final Take-It-Or-Leave-It Offer Of £138m For Philippe Coutinho, And Liverpool Would Be Bonkers To Reject It…

Chris Wright

23rd, August 2017

5 Comments

Word on the wire today is that Barcelona are cobbling together one final take-it-or-leave-it offer for Philippe Coutinho, reportedly worth £138million with £100million paid upfront.

The colossal bid would constitute Barca’s fourth official attempt to coax Liverpool into parting with their man, with the Catalans prepared to walk away from the negotiating table and pursue other targets should their advances be rejected this time.

The £38million of add-ons apparently consist of a £9million bonus being paid each time Barca qualify for the Champions League over the next four seasons – money which is therefore virtually guaranteed.

Surely – surely – Liverpool would be utterly bonkers not to accept?

Unlike Luis Suarez before him, Coutinho has proved over two or three seasons that he’s not good – or consistent – enough to single-handedly elevate Liverpool to the next level, so surely £138million represents the very best valuation they’re ever going to get for him?

Yes, he tessellates well as part of the team dynamic at Anfield, but it’s not like they wouldn’t be able to pull in a gifted replacement (Riyad Mahrez, Lucas Moura, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, etc) for less than half the fee recouped, leaving plenty of cash in reserve to reinforce the rest of the squad.

Coutinho is certainly talented, creative and may be good for a nice dribble or a spectacular 25-yarder once every four or five games, but he just doesn’t have the same effect on performances and results that a legitimately elite player does.

Almost on his lonesome, Suarez dragged the Reds up to be title contenders. We’ve seen that Coutinho just isn’t that calibre of star.

What do we reckon Pies fans? Having bartered up to £138million, would Liverpool be insane to knock this one back?

Posted in Barcelona, Liverpool, Newsnow, Opinion, Transfers & Rumours

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5 Comments

  1. Doppleganga says:

    They would be mad to say no in my opinion. Whilst not easily replaceable, he’s certainly not irreplaceable. He clearly wants to go, Liverpool will have appeased some fans that they at least attempted to say no to Barca but at that price they simply have to sell surely.

  2. Ahmed says:

    Funny English media comments … till yesterday Cothino was one of the best player in Premier ligue,potentially game changer(Elite player like Messi,Neymar,Ronaldo,Hazard etc).Liverpool should not let to leave him.Now saying ” Coutinho is certainly talented, creative and may be good for a nice dribble or a spectacular 25-yarder once every four or five games, but he just doesn’t have the same effect on erformances and results that a legitimately elite player does.” Actually there is no difference between lower standard Spanish media & you fuck british m

  3. Stu says:

    Coutinho may well not be worth that, but I’d venture to say he is to Liverpool. Too often in recent times their marquee players have left too soon, making it harder for the club to move up to the next level and challenge for the PL or CL – let alone consistently.

    Quite aside from the fact that Coutinho is still only 25 and yet to enter the fabled “prime,” any of those mentioned in the article would surely be a downgrade, certainly over the long-term.

    More to the point though, although Coutinho may not be worth £138 million, the cost to Liverpool of selling him, missing out on CL qualification as a result and spending more years as a 5th / 6th place finisher will be a lot more.

  4. Archer says:

    Your assessment of this one is perfect – Barcelona would be bonkers to offer £138mil as much as Liverpool would be bonkers to refuse.

    A more realistic figure might be £38 mil…

    I think your suggested replacements are pretty spot on – Mahrez is a particularly good shout

  5. milt_palacio says:

    I agree that this is pretty much an offer you can’t refuse. This is seems to be an all-in play from Bartomeu (Barcas president). While Coutinho is a great player he isn’t in the league of Suarez, Ronaldo, Neymar or even Bale in terms of guaranteed “goals for money”.

    On the other hand Liverpool will in turn be played for suckers (a la Carrol) if they need to get a replacement, with the transfer window closing soon and that much money in the bank. And it’s not like they need the money.

    But yeah, I would take that money and never look back.

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